James Wood's leadoff homer, Jake Irvin's seven scoreless innings lift Nationals over Pirates 3-0

PITTSBURGH — James Wood led off the game with a home run and Jake Irvin pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Washington Nationals to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

Irvin (1-0) allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one as the Nationals snapped a three-game losing streak. The Pirates never got a runner past second base in losing for the fourth time in five games.

Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan pitched one inning each to finish the four-hitter. Finnegan notched his sixth save in as many opportunities.

The shutout came a night after the Pirates recorded a season high in runs scored while beating the Nationals 10-3.

Mitch Keller (1-2) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings while striking out three and walking two.

Wood hit a drive to the concourse in right-center field on Keller's sixth pitch of the game to give the Nationals a quick lead with his sixth homer of the season. The score remained 1-0 until the sixth when Nasim Nunez hit a two-run single with two outs.

Paul DeJong was hit in the face by a pitch from Keller with two outs and the bases empty in the sixth. DeJong underwent a CT scan and the Nationals were awaiting the results.

Jack Suwinski had two hits for the Pirates and made a fine running catch on the left-field warning track.

Key moment

The Pirates had runners on first and second while trailing 1-0 in the fifth, but Irvin got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Key stat

Wood hit the first leadoff home run in his 96-game career.

Mitchell Parker (2-0, 1.96 ERA) will start for the Nationals against Bailey Falter (0-2, 7.20) on Wednesday night in a matchup of left-handers in the third game of the four-game series.

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